Elementary English
Unit 8: The reading classroom: the reading teacher
Teacher Education through School-based Support in India www.TESS-India.edu.in
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
The TESS-India project (Teacher Education through School-based Support) aims to improve the classroom practices of elementary and secondary teachers in India through studentcentred and activity-based approaches. This has been realised through 105 teacher development units (TDUs) available online and downloaded in printed form. Teachers are encouraged to read the whole TDU and try out the activities in their classroom in order to maximise their learning and enhance their practice. The TDUs are written in a supportive manner, with a narrative that helps to establish the context and principles that underpin the activities. The activities are written for the teacher rather than the student, acting as a companion to textbooks. TESS-India TDUs were co-written by Indian authors and UK subject leads to address Indian curriculum and pedagogic targets and contexts. Originally written in English, the TDUs have then been localised to ensure that they have relevance and resonance in each participating Indian state’s context. TESS-India is led by The Open University and funded by UKAID from the Department for International Development.
Version 1.0 Except for third party materials and otherwise stated, this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bysa/3.0/
Contents Introduction
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Learning outcomes
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Motivating your students to read
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What can reading do?
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The teacher’s role
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Reading aloud with expression
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5
Monitoring students’ progress
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Summary
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Related units
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Acknowledgements
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Introduction
Introduction In this unit the focus is on reading for pleasure. If students associate reading only with language drills and tests, they are not likely to reach for a book on their own; however, if they learn to associate reading with enjoyment, they will become voluntary lifelong readers. Your students will be learning to read in English and in their first language. In this unit the focus is on reading for pleasure in English, but the ideas and methods discussed are relevant to reading in any language. So as you read through this unit, think about how you could try out the activities for pleasurable reading in Hindi or mother tongue, as well as well as in English. Think too about how the strategies discussed would be effective with children of different abilities in your class. This unit links to the following TDUs: .
TDU 2, English emergent literacy: songs, rhymes and word play.
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TDU 6, Reading English: shared reading and guided reading.
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TDU 7, Using activities alongside teaching an English text: the importance of planning and preparation.
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TDU 8
The reading classroom: the reading teacher
Learning outcomes After studying this unit, you should have developed:
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knowledge of key actions to develop your students as voluntary readers
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skills in continuous and comprehensive evaluation for reading
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understanding of your role as a model reader for students.
1 Motivating your students to read
1 Motivating your students to read In your classroom, you can provide students with opportunities to read English from the textbook as well as other English language resources, such as story books and children’s magazines. Your students will have varying levels of ability in reading English, requiring varying levels of support from you. Research has shown that, whatever level of reading skills they might have, it is important to provide students with daily opportunities to experience reading pleasurably. It is important that students are motivated by a genuine desire or need to read. How can you make reading motivating for your students on a regular basis? Here are five key actions you can take that will help motivate your students to read: 1 Show the students that you are a reader yourself. Talk about what you like to read and share suitable examples with them. 2 Create a reading environment in your classroom with a library or book corner. 3 Make time to read aloud in class just for pleasure, not just for teaching language skills and tests. 4 Talk to your students about what they like to read (and what they don’t like to read). 5 Make time for quiet independent reading in your classroom.
Case Study 1: Mrs Shanta makes a class library Mrs Shanta is a primary school teacher of Class V in a co-educational government school. She is a very keen reader who reads whatever she can lay her hands on and knows the benefits of reading. Here she explains here how she went about making a class library. I observed that most of the students in my class didn’t have any books at home and were very reluctant readers. Although my students had the opportunity to borrow books from the school library once a week during the library period, I felt they were not very interested in reading them. I started thinking about how she could encourage my students to read more books and other print material. I examined my classroom and found that I had very few books for my students to read. Moreover, because the books were kept inside a cupboard, they were often not visible. I therefore decided to make some changes. First I decided to increase the number of books I had available. I asked my colleagues if they had any surplus books, which I then added to my supply. I also decided to spend all my annual allowance for purchasing teaching and learning materials on books. I bought many interesting, inexpensive books from the National Book Trust and Children’s Book Trust. With the help of my
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TDU 8
The reading classroom: the reading teacher
students, I also made some story books using notebooks and magazine pictures. While selecting and making the books, the most important thing was to ensure they would be appealing to my students. I included picture books, easy-to-read books (designed to be read by emergent readers on their own), fables and folk tales, information books, novels, biographies, jokes and riddle books, poetry books, comics (including Spiderman), books on sports, and books on making things. I also borrowed children’s magazines from the school library. My next task was to create a library in the corner in my classroom, with shelves and a reading area. I asked my students’ advice as to where this might be. Initially they felt that the room was too small to accommodate this, but when we rearranged all the furniture we were surprised that everything could fit in. I placed a mat in the library corner because most of the children found it more comfortable to read while sitting on the floor. I obtained some attractive posters, free from book sellers, to encourage reading. A chair provided a place for me or one of the students to read aloud to the other students.
The students referred to the corner as a special place. The physical presence of the book corner gave them the message that books are so valued that space should be taken from the rest of classroom to make room for them. The students asked for more books, more time to use the corner and permission to eat while reading the books. Following my example, other teachers in the school started their own classroom library as well.
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1 Motivating your students to read
Activity 1: Talk to your students about starting a class library Before the lesson, make a list of books or other reading materials that you could collect in order to start a class library. During the lesson, tell your students you want to make a library corner in their classroom. Write the following questions on the board: .
What are the books you have read?
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Which ones did you like, and why?
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What kinds of books would you like to read?
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Are there other things you would like to read?
Then divide students into pairs and ask them to ask each other the questions that you have written on the board. Give them a few minutes to do this and then bring the class back together to write their ideas on the board. After the lesson, consolidate their ideas. Look again at your own list. Do their ideas match yours? What did you find out?
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TDU 8
The reading classroom: the reading teacher
2 What can reading do? Reading has a crucial role to play in creating independent learners and in increasing the educational attainment of individuals. Reading is the basis of a student‘s success at all levels of education: primary, secondary or tertiary. Developing good reading habits is vital to a child’s future – not just academically, but in everyday life as well. Here are four important reasons for developing reading habits in students: .
Reading develops vocabulary: The more a student reads, the more new words will find their way into their vocabulary. Reading exposes students to words and phrases that they might not hear in every day speech. As a teacher, when you read aloud to your students, you are not only helping to prepare them to learn to read; you are also exposing them to the rich language that they otherwise might not hear or read on their own.
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Reading increases the attention span of children: Encouraging good reading habits from an early age develops your students’ attention span and allows them to focus better and for longer periods of time.
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Developing reading habits early leads to a lifelong love of books: Students who start reading regularly from an early age are more likely to enjoy reading later in life. This will serve them well throughout their education and beyond.
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Reading encourages a thirst for knowledge: Students with good reading habits learn more about the world around them and develop an interest in other cultures. Reading leads to asking questions and seeking answers, which expands students’ knowledge on a constant basis.
Pause for thought What do you like to read yourself, in English or in any language? Poetry, novels, biographies, newspapers, information books, or something else? What do you think your students enjoy reading for themselves, in English or in any language? Do you have any of these texts in your classroom? Why or why not?
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3 The teacher’s role
3 The teacher’s role As a teacher, you play a critical role in influencing your students’ attitude towards voluntary reading – especially if they come from families with no education or if their parents do not understand the importance of reading. If students associate reading only with drilling and testing, they will never reach for a book on their own. If, on the other hand, they associate reading with pleasure and enjoyment, as well as with language skill development, they are more likely to become voluntary lifelong readers. As mentioned above, one of the most important things you can do is to be a role model for pleasurable reading. Show your students regularly that you are a reader who loves books and reading. Tell them what you have read lately – this might be a story, but it might also be something in the newspaper or in a magazine, or even something you read on an advertisement or billboard. Talk to them about what you like to read for enjoyment. Start a conversation and show interest in what they like to read.
A teacher speaks from experience Bhaskar is my student studying in Class V. He is a very good football player and an ardent fan of David Beckham, but he has limited reading skills. During the reading period he would do everything but read! I thought about this. What could I provide that he would want to read? How could I encourage him to find reading pleasurable? I got some football magazines and the sport sections of newspapers. I put them on the shelf open. When Bhaskar saw this, he was so excited he immediately picked up the magazine and started reading. After a few days I observed him reading the newspaper with some other children and checking out the weather.
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TDU 8
The reading classroom: the reading teacher
4 Reading aloud with expression You will know how much students love to imitate their teacher: what you do and say, they will do and say. When you read aloud to your students – for pleasure rather than as a language drill – you can inspire them to become expressive readers themselves. (For more on this topic, you should refer to TDU 5, English storytelling: using questions, adapting texts, extracting learning, TDU 6, Reading English: shared reading and guided reading and TDU 13, Reading aloud: developing and monitoring progress.) This can help your students improve their pronunciation of English. Try this in your classroom Choose a short story or a poem that you think your students will enjoy. (It does not need to be from the textbook.) Read the story or the poem aloud. Then invite a student to read the story to the rest of the class. The student may have memorised some or all of the text, but this is fine – let the student imitate the way you read with expression and enthusiasm. Sit with the other students and show them how to be a good listener. Join in if there are choral parts to the reading.
You do not need to attach any drills to this kind of reading aloud. Simply focus instead on the pleasure and enjoyment of reading.
Case Study 2: Nandini develops enjoyable reading routines Nandini teaches Class III in an elementary school. She really wanted her students to become voluntary readers – read how she went about this. I had spent lot of time teaching my students reading skills and have a small collection of books in my classroom library. But I noticed that my students associated reading with drills and tests rather than doing it for enjoyment. I therefore took the following steps:
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4 Reading aloud with expression
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I read to them aloud: I began to read aloud to my students just for pleasure every day. When I did this, there were no drills and tests to follow. This made them associate reading with enjoyment.
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I talk to parents: During the parent/teacher meetings I talked to my students’ parents about the benefits of reading. As many of the parents could not read themselves, I asked them to ask their children to talk to them about what they read in school. However, I discovered that a few parents could read in English and invited them into the classroom to read aloud to the students themselves.
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I have a daily reading routine: I wanted my students to read for pleasure for at least 20 minutes every day. I knew that if they could choose books that interested them, they would be more likely to read voluntarily. With the busy teaching schedule, it was a challenge to carve out 20 minutes for independent reading, but I felt it was a priority. The reading period was generally quiet, but a little talk and movement was acceptable. Initially the students used to close their books immediately after hearing the school bell – but as they started getting interested in reading, they didn’t want to stop.
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I monitor students’ reading habits: I developed a simple system to keep track of students’ reading. I kept a weekly reading log in which students recorded the date, the title of their book, and number of minutes spent on reading each day of the week.
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I try to be a role model: When my students first began to participate in the independent reading period, I would circulate among them to see what they were doing and to help them if necessary. As they became more able to read on their own, I decided to read independently in the classroom as well, as a way of modelling this practice to my students.
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I encourage a system of reading buddies: I decided to pair students so that the ones who were less interested in reading could be inspired by the more enthusiastic ones. In my class there was a girl named Ritu who was usually very quiet, but who seemed to be enjoying taking turns to read out loud and discussing the accompanying pictures with her reading buddy.
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I talk to my students about books: I make an effort to talk to the students about what I am reading and what they are reading. I praise their efforts and achievements in reading in English.
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The reading classroom: the reading teacher
Activity 2: Look around your classroom
Look around your classroom and think about how you could arrange the space and furniture to make a small class library in a corner. Make a list of:
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books you can get from the local library
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books you can make (see TDU 6, Reading English: shared reading and guided reading and TDU 12, The input-rich environment for English: displays, word walls, labelling and games)
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magazines you can get
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posters about books
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any other reading materials.
5 Monitoring students’ progress
5 Monitoring students’ progress Continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) Observe the behaviour of at least five of your students while they are listening to stories, browsing books or reading independently. You may find it helpful to use a checklist similar to Table 1 for this purpose. Table 1 Checklist for assessing students’ attitudes and abilities with regard to reading: Name of student: Class:
Date:
Statement
Always
Sometimes
Never
Listens attentively while being read to Responds with questions and comments to texts read to them Asks to be read to Handles books appropriately Voluntarily browses the books and other reading material available Leafs through reading material voluntarily, paying attention to the pictures Reads voluntarily, paying sustained attention to the text Takes books home to read Has particular reading likes and dislikes (list them here): Additional observations:
How can this kind of information help you tailor the kind of support you can give to individual students? How might you use this kind of checklist to assess a student’s progress over time?
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TDU 8
The reading classroom: the reading teacher
6 Summary The readings and practical activities in this unit should have helped you consider ways of developing a positive environment to encourage pleasurable reading by the students in your classroom. Now reflect and make some notes on the following:
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Identify three key ideas or skills you have learned in this unit.
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Which of the practices mentioned do you already do in your classroom?
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Which of the practices would you like to incorporate into your classroom?
7 Related units
7 Related units .
TDU 2, English emergent literacy: songs, rhymes and word play.
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TDU 5, English storytelling: using questions, adapting texts, extracting learning.
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TDU 6, Reading English: shared reading and guided reading.
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TDU 7, Using activities alongside teaching an English text: the importance of planning and preparation.
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TDU 12, The input-rich environment for English: displays, word walls, labelling and games.
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TDU 13, Reading aloud: developing and monitoring progress.
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TDU 8
The reading classroom: the reading teacher
Acknowledgements The content of this teacher development unit was developed collaboratively and incrementally by the following educators and academics from India and The Open University (UK) who discussed various drafts, including the feedback from Indian and UK critical readers: Suman Batia and Kimberly Safford. Except for third party materials and otherwise stated, this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
The material acknowledged below is Proprietary and used under licence (not subject to Creative Commons Licence). Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources for permission to reproduce material in this unit: Case Study 1 image: Courtesy of Suman Batia. 4. Reading aloud with expression image: Courtesy of Batia Suman. Activity 2 image: Courtesy of Batia Suman. CCE logo: http://www.cbse.nic.in/. Every effort has been made to contact copyright owners. If any have been inadvertently overlooked, the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrangements at the first opportunity.
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